[Petzer]

Thanks for your question, Calvin. No offense is taken, and we appreciate that you care enough about the idea to ask. I knew this was definitely something that's been hard thought over on the end of the designers, Matt and Emily. I reached out to Matt, and he had this to say:

Originally Posted by Matt

Hey there, I’m Matt. I was an FRC student through high school and currently mentor the team I was on, when I’m not volunteering in the FLL. On LEGO Ideas, I’m TheBrickEngineer. I’ve been a member on Cuusoo, as well, and have spent a long time trying to think of an idea that meets LEGO’s target audiences.

I chose LEGO STRONGHOLD to bring both current FIRST students and mentors to and, in many cases, back to LEGO, where there is already a strong partnership with FIRST. This should make 3rd party protected information less of a barrier in the set’s distribution.

I believe that, in this case, it’s okay that the set targets people who already know FRC. When you take a look at other successful LEGO sets, many of the themes are based on movies and TV shows, such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, the Simpsons, the Big Bang Theory, and Back to the Future, which would only appeal to their respective, established fans. Some of these very sets were created through the Cuusoo or LEGO Ideas programs.

While the previously mentioned pop culture themes may have larger current audiences than FIRST, I don't think the set is niche, especially for children aged 6-10. Both FIRST and LEGO foster creativity. Kids will love LEGO STRONGHOLD, because it will allow them not only to build the set and model robots but, also, to use their own pieces and imaginations to build a LEGO robot, one better than those provided.

These kids, while exercising their own potentials and creativities, would have exposure to FIRST and could then actively seek teams and competitions, starting with FLL and moving up. This will inspire.

FIRST and its fans are the perfect pathway to the set’s immediate market. FIRST and its fans are the perfect pathway to advertising the set to a more general market, and, in return, LEGO is the perfect pathway for spreading the excitement and positivity of FIRST. The student who worked with me and I believe LEGO STRONGHOLD could be, in this way, prime in its mutual beneficence of FIRST and LEGO with general audience potential not far out of reach.